Living to Learn
by BeKaMaJo
Summary: A historian with an interesting veiw on things joins Ben, Abigail and Riley. Chapter Three Up.
1. Alone

Yes, yes I know, another NT fic. Please enjoy, even if this chapter doesn't relate to National Treasure at all.

Enjoy.

* * *

To be in someone else's home during a time of your own personal crisis is an interesting experience, not only for yourself, but for those around you as well. Especially if they are not aware that you are going through a traumatic experience, as was mine.

My father, along with the rest of my family was killed in a car accident while I was over at my friend's home for a sleepover. The family I was with did not know my father, as he did not usually associate with my friends' families, for the plain reason that he was a traveling man, and was not home often enough to do so.

Therefore, when the policeman called, they thought it was my father.

"Is Kassidy there?"

"Yes sir."

"May I speak to her?"

"Yes, she'll be on the line momentarily."

They yelled my name, saying it was my dad. I extracted myself from the intense Uno game I was playing and walked over to the phone.

"Hey, dad!"

"Kassidy, I am not your father." No, he wasn't.

"May I ask who you are?"

"I'm officer Jared Deeps."

"And why are you calling?"

"Kassidy, the rest of your family died a half an hour ago in a head on collision with a semi."

I dropped the phone. It hit the floor with a thud, cracking it from end to end. Quickly I bent down and picked it up again. The phone was humming. Obviously, the officer had hung up. After all, dropping the Jorganson's phone did sound like hanging up.

I shook my head in disbelief, biting my lip. That could not possibly be true, could it? Surely it must be a joke, even if it was a horrible one to play. I racked through my list of friends, my enemies, hoping to find something that would tell me that this was all a hoax and the officer would call back and laugh, saying that it was indeed just that.

But deep in my heart, I knew that it was the truth. My family is dead and no matter what I told myself, nothing would change what would happen.

Still biting my lip, I picked up the phone and hit the redial button. It rang a few times before the same person picked up again.

"Hello?" He answered and I swallowed hard.

"I am sorry, this is Kassidy again. I just dropped the phone." I replied, trying to fight back the tears that were threatening to spill over my misted eyes.

"Oh, I see." He answered.

"Is this true what you tell me?" I asked as I crossed my fingers. Once more, the false hope that this was all a joke entered into my mind but quickly diminished at his next words.

"I am sorry, Miss. Kassidy, but they were indeed in a car accident and killed." He explained, "I wish that I did not have to tell you this but you would find out sooner or later."

I did not reply to this as hot tears streamed down my face and my whole world went blank. My vision swam before me and my legs shook, threatening to give out. My stomach churned with uneasiness and I felt a hot bile rise up in my throat.

"Is there anything else I can help you with?" He asked.

"No, sir. Thank you." I replied with a quivering voice.

"I am sorry." A soft click ended the conversation and then it all sunk in.

I would never see my father again. I would never see his cheerful face nor hear his laugh again. Everything that we had done would always remain a memory to me, never to be talked or laughed about. Never again would he dance me across the living room like he used to when I was still little and his belt buckle would press into my cheek. I would never feel his touch again.

My mother would never be there to hold me when I'm sad or angry. She would not be there to ease my butterflies on my wedding day, if it ever came, and she would not be there to be the grandmother of my children. The bond that was shared between a mother and daughter would not be there; only what had been formed and nothing more. Her merry voice would never again sing into my room in the morning to wake me up for school, no matter how much I hated it.

My little brother's annoying giggling would never make me twitch in irritation as he continuously picked at me. He would always make fun of me, even if he was younger, and I would hate him for it but now that he is not there anymore, I realize now that I really do love him. Perhaps he even did that out of love; he did not know how to show it maybe. The slapping of his little feet on the tile upstairs would never reach my ears; that annoying noise of skin sticking to the tile and sucking off after each step. Oh, how I hated it but now I miss it.

The phone slid out of my hand without me noticing but I didn't respond. I heard my friend's feet running towards me but I remained staring straight ahead unblinkingly. She put her hand on my shoulder but I did not feel it. She asked me a question but it was blurred so that I could not understand.

My shoulders began to rack with sobs as I dropped to the floor, finally allowing my tears to fall freely. More people came but I did not notice it. The only thing I could see was my family before my eyes; never again to breathe or walk or live. They were gone…

And they weren't coming back.

* * *

Ok, I'm cruel. I'm not going to be able to update for the next month or so, but I wanted to at least get this up before I left. Manwathiel, however is staying where she is (as far as I know) for the Holidays.

Well, I must go!

As Always,

BeKaMaJo


	2. Snow

Finally some NT related material. Sorry if this chapter is unsatisfactory, I think the next chapter will be up soon, it all depends on how much I get done. Well, Enjoy!

BeKaMaJo

* * *

- Chapter One -

Eight Years Later

The Arctic Circle

* * *

The Two snow crawlers rumbled over the snow. It was about twenty below outside. In other words, Very Cold. 

Kassidy watched the scenery roll by while all the time hearing Riley Poole's modified navigator beep incessantly. It was getting on her nerves.

"Hey Kass," Ian Howe asked. Kassidy scooted forward in her seat.

"Yeah, Ian?" She asked; her long blonde hair splayed over her red coat.

"You've got all of your notes?" He teased. When they had met, two years before, Kassidy was still in College (having graduated last year) and had been always frantically taking notes. Since her parents couldn't come, Ben, Ian and Riley had filled in and came to her graduation.

"Ha, ha, very funny Ian. Remember, I have those pictures of you and Susan….. And your mother's address. Nice woman….." She trailed off. Ian looked back at her with a look of shock. She smiled smugly and sat back in her seat. Riley looked at her.

"Hey Kass?"

"Yeah Riley?"

"What does this monitor say to you?"

"Beep, beep?"

"Very funny, Kassidy. Come look at it." Complying, Kassidy moved across the seat, looked at the monitor and said, "That's interesting. We're just about there."

Riley looked at me, "And this from the girl who can't read a map to save her life?"

She shot daggers at him through her eyes, "That was only in Pocatello. It's a big city."

"All right. Kassidy, get back to your end of the car please." Ben said. "Riley, about another half mile?"

"Yep. Though don't go by me. I broke a shoelace this morning." They all looked at him. "It's a bad omen."

The two men and young woman looked away, rolling their eyes.

About 5 minutes later the rapid beeping started going in for a long continuous beep. It was giving Kassidy a headache.

"Ok, we're here." Riley said. Kassidy nearly said, 'then turn it off!" But, seeing how her new year's resolution was to be nicer to Riley's instruments, she didn't.

The snow crawlers came to a stop and Kassidy leapt out of the vehicle in an attempt to get away from the beeping machine. When the noise was only a small annoyance in her ear, she sighed and looked around the frozen landscape with her hands on her hips. She saw the other members of the group pile out of their snow crawler out of the corner of her eye and she turned to face them.

"I think Riley's machine lied to us!" She called as the others observed the land as well.

"My navigator doesn't lie, Kass." Riley muttered as he stepped up beside her. A small smirk tugged at her lips as he stared out into the never ending sea of white.

"Then where is it?" She questioned. He opened his mouth to answer but was beaten by Ben as he walked up beside them.

"It is under us, I believe. We just need to find out exactly where it is." He supplied, not even looking at them. Riley and Kassidy exchanged glances with quirked eyebrows but said nothing, "I suppose we best get started." Ben added, already walking back to the vehicles. The other two shrugged and followed after him quickly.

They saw him climb up into the crawlers again and come back out a few moments later carrying a few of Riley's metal detectors they had brought along. He tossed one out of the door to Kassidy who caught it just before it could whack her in the face. She rolled her eyes at him and slung it over her shoulder, then walked away a bit to watch the others. She sat down in the hard snow and grumbled when she felt the slightest bit of water sneak its way into her heavy coat.

A chuckle escaped her lips as she watched the frustration that Riley was going through as his equipment was tossed unceremoniously to the other members of the group. The others seemed to get a kick out of it though.

"Ben? Uh, that is very expensive, you know." He informed as Ian caught his with ease, "I'd rather not-" He caught off his sentence when one of the machines crashed to the ground, unnoticed except by him, "Right." He muttered as he bit his bottom lip.

The beeping of the detectors cut the peaceful silence of the Arctic tundra, amplifying the annoying sound in Kassidy's ears. It took all she had not to trash the machines until they couldn't even think of beeping again but, once again, she remembered her resolution about the equipment.

She noticed Shaw sigh heavily as he rested his detector over his shoulder and stalk over to Riley. She kept her eyes averted from the conversation but was well aware of what was being said.

"Look, this is a waste of time." He complained, "How could a ship wind up way out here?" Riley stopped what he was doing and looked out into the distance.

"Well, I'm not expert but…it could be that the hydrothermic properties of this region produce hurricane-force ice storms that cause the ocean to freeze and then melt and then refreeze, resulting in a semisolid migrating land mass that would land a ship right around here." And he walked off, leaving a very confused Shaw behind. Kassidy chuckled quietly and then resumed her search for the Charlotte.

* * *

Well then. Satisfactory? We certainly hope so.

All the best,

BeKaMaJo


	3. Wet

I know, I know, you're all Screaming at me saying: BEJO, WHAT TOOK YOU SO CALGONITLY LONG! My Excuse: Jet Lag. If you don't know what that is, go ask someone who goes to a Different time zone a lot.

If you don't believe that one: The Mutant Green Worms from the planet Zorton came and up-doed my hair. Take your pick, I've got more.

Anyway, sorry for the delay, and hope this will hold you over for the time being.

* * *

Chapter 2 

"So, Kassidy," Ian said, walking up behind her, "What's new?"

She smiled and said, "Ian, you've asked me that for the last two days. It's gotten old." She replied. Then she walked ahead, scanning the snow.

"Found anything?"

"Nope. Man, Ian, is this an interrogation or something?" Ian looked at her smiling face. She was right. He sounded like an army interrogator. Secretly Kassidy would have given up information to him, but she wasn't about to say that.

Suddenly Ben yelled, "I found something!" Kassidy swung her metal detector over her shoulder, and ran over to where Ben was. Or, at least she _tried_ to get over to Ben. Naturally, when you run, you feet hit the ground harder then when you walk, therefore, with all of her rousting about, the snow beneath her, ahem, caved in.

All of a sudden, she was in up to her neck in snow. It was _uncomfortable_. She heard someone laughing behind her. It was Ian. Then there were hands under her almost buried armpits and pulled her upwards. Riley stood to her left, smiling. Through the quiet resentment, she wasn't really mad at him. Just like you are never really mad at your boyfriend, or brother.

Once she was on firm snow, she looked down. True enough, there was a five foot deep hole where she was. Ian chuckled softly as she shook out her coat. A rather disturbing amount fell out.

"Kass, maybe you should go sit in the truck." He said. Kassidy nodded and turned around, walking through the snow (and carefully around the hole) and trudged her way back to the truck. Slipping into her seat, she took off her gloves. Then she snuggled down in her seat and went to sleep.

She woke up when the car started, and then was knocked forward in her seat as an explosion knocked her forward in her seat. She looked up and around and said, terrified, "Ben what was that?"

Ben didn't answer. Ben wasn't even in the truck. Ian looked back at her. She looked over at him. Narrowing her eyes, tears fighting against her, suspicion rammed into her mind like a battering ram.

"Ian, where's Ben?" Her voice was filled with fear, mistrust and tears.

His face was a mask of sadness, "Kassidy, I'll tell you when we get home. Now is not the time." He reached back and patted her hand. She pulled my hand away and turned toward the window, knowing that what ever it was, it was not an accident, and that two of her best friends were dead.

* * *

Sorry for such a short chapter, but I hoped you all enjoyed it, and thanks to all of our reviewers (yes, Manny, I'm including you). Hey. We seem to write sad stuff. Drat it. Well, just so you know (or to inspire false hope), we will try to make the story happier. --Elbows Manny-- WON'T we? 

All the best,

BeKaMaJo


	4. Ouch

Finally, A long chapter. I know, I know, you're going to say: BeJo, what took you so long, and where in the name of Strawberries is the next chapter of 'A Very Elven Christmas'? Answer: Um, I was lazy, and I'm trying to make AVEC Chapter 3 as good as I possibly can.

Disclaimer: Not Mine. Though, if they ahve an extra's call in NT2, you can bet that I'll be BEGGING my mom to let me go. Visions of eternal servitude flash through my head...

Well, anyway, please enjoy.

* * *

The whole thing came out at the apartment Ian used in New York City. That is, a whole bunch of baloney that a groundhog wouldn't believe.

"Ian," Kassidy started, only a foot away, "This is me, this is _Kassidy_. Don't lie to me. Not right now. _What happened to Ben and Riley_!" She said, starting out in a soft voice, and growing to a firm, lie-to-me-and-you-will-die tone.

What she got was the truth that left her screaming her lungs out at Ian and his cronies. Finally they told her that they were going to steal the Declaration of Independence. That was the last straw. She hemmed, hawed, screamed, shouted, yelled and other methods, but all she got for her efforts was a sore throat. Finally they were ready to go out for dinner.

Kassidy refused; in fact she refused to eat barely at all for the whole time she was with them.

Finally, it was time to go. Ian couldn't afford leaving the nearly insane Kassidy to call and notify the police, so they dragged her along. Needless to say, she wasn't all too happy about it.

Once they reached their destination, Kassidy stomped toward the back of the catering van. Ian turned, rather shocked to see her so mad.

"IAN!" She nearly shrieked. She stomped up behind him. Kassidy could nearly feel the catering van shake. Ian turned around, smiling.

"Ah, Kassidy, I see you are quite recovered from your speechlessness." She felt tempted to knock that perfect smile out of his head.

"Ian, you can't do this." She said, pushing back the anger.

"Oh? And why not?" He asked. She saw red, but shook it off. She held up a fist. Then her index finger popped up.

"Number one: Because it's illegal. I don't know if that will bother you, but it bothers me. Number two: Because of you get caught, you will spend the rest of your years in PRISON. Number Three-"

Kassidy never finished. In an instant, she was swooped down on by Ian, his lips meeting hers. She tried to draw back, surprised and mildly disgusted, but then she felt the pain in her back, the unmistakable feeling of a hypodermic needle sliding into her flesh. In her weakened and unfed state, it would only take about five minutes to knock her out until the next day. Then he let her go.

She staggered back, and then threw a mind-blowing punch at Ian's face. It connected with a thud. He pushed her back, shook his head a little, and then turned to Victor.

"The tranquilizer will take effect in five minutes. Watch her closely; make sure she doesn't hurt herself." He said, and then they went down the drain. As soon as they were gone, Kassidy whipped around to face Victor, ignoring the sudden pressure on her mind. It was the pressure of tiredness. She picked up a six foot pipe that was lying on the floor. She twirled it around her hands, trying to remember all her experience in the color guard.

Victor looked at her suspiciously. "How did you do that?"

She smiled viciously. "I was in the color guard for my high school for four years. You pick up a few things."

He glanced at the pipe in her hands. Then he drew his .22 Colt and silencer. She looked at it, pushing the drug back in her mind. Then she moved. Twisting herself and the pole around, she hit the gun our of his hands with staggering force, so fast that he didn't have time to follow her, or just barely. Then she hit him in the stomach and on the back of his neck as he doubled over. She wanted to hit him again, but she didn't feel that it was necessary to bruise him any more.

One problem. Action causes your heart to pump faster. She looked at her watch. It had been two minutes. Less than three minutes until she would be unconscious. She opened the back of the catering truck, jumping out. She looked around and saw a red van. Funny, it looked like Riley's.

It _was_ Riley's and that meant…. That they were alive! Her heart exploded with butterflies at the thought. Well, the drug may have helped, but the point was she started running towards it. Soon she was across the street. Something bad was happening. Why wasn't she slowing down?

_Crunch_. OW. Kassidy, now inexplicably incapable of controlling her appendages, had run full tilt into the side of the car.

* * *

**Inside the car**

"Ben?" Riley asked. He glanced nervously at the side of the car where something had bumped into it.

"What Riley?" Ben sighed. Ben was in the bathroom, getting Abigail Chase's fingerprints.

"Something just ran into the side of the car."

"What!"

"Something just-"

"I heard you, I heard you. Wait. Riley, open the side door."

"What?"

"Open the side door." Fumbling around, he opened the side door. Then a bang came around the side of the car. He looked toward the back of the car and saw Kassidy on the sidewalk, face down, struggling to get up.

"Riley, what was that bang?" Ben asked.

"Kassidy." Riley replied, hopping out of the van, and trying to lift the delirious blonde off the pavement. She wasn't helping by turning about.

"Kassidy? I know Kassidy is less than graceful sometimes, that sounded like a rhino fought with a brick wall and lost!" Ben protested.

"Well," Riley strained, "I think Ian must have plugged her with something, because she's stopped moving now."

"Is she breathing?"

Riley checked, "Yeah. I think it must have been a tranquilizer, because she doesn't look like she was affected by either of those crashes at all!"

"Ian plugged her with a tranquilizer?"

"I can't be sure, but it seems that way. Either that, or she's drunk."

"Riley, Kassidy doesn't drink."

Riley rolled his eyes. Now wasn't the time. Then Ben changed the subject. "It's working."

Riley's eyes widened. "Unbelievable."

* * *

She couldn't feel anything. Nothing. Kassidy couldn't see anything either. Her eyes were closed. But Kassidy wasn't unconscious. Was she? What ever state she was in, it wasn't good. She floated around, her arms and legs almost non-existent. Then someone shouted. The floor rumbled. 

But the last thing Kassidy remembered was landing on the pavement by Riley's car. How-? Ah. She was _in_ Riley's car now. Riley must have buffed up a little, seeing how last time he tried to pick her up, he dropped her into a fountain.

Aw well, what was the use? She was tired. Slowly, she relaxed and fell back into oblivion.

* * *

Well, what of it? Should I (cause I wrote this part)be banned from Tie me to a stake and burn me?

Please review and tell us! Both Manny and I would be VERY pleased if you did.

BeKaMaJo

P.S. Thanks to all those who did review!


	5. Asleep

Well, sorry for not updating over the summer. I brought the story with me on my vacation, but never got the time to write in it (plus the confounded CD didn't work right.

Well, Anyway, enjoy.

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Abigail fell into the car. Immediately then she started raving about lunatics, yelling about documents and screaming about every thing in-between.  
"They don't have it," Ben calmly explained. He pulled out a red leather poster case and took a white insulated container out of it. Then he screwed the cap off and showed her. "See? Ok? Now can you please stop shouting?"  
"Give me that!" She shouted. Ben rolled his eyes. He screwed the cap on, and then pointed at her.  
"You're still shouting, and it's really starting to annoy. And you would do well, Dr. Chase to be a bit more civilized in this instance."  
"If this is the real one," she countered, "What did they get?"  
"A souvenir," Ben simply replied, "I thought it'd be a good idea to have a duplicate, turns out I was right. I actually had to pay for the souvenir and the real one, so you owe me thirty five dollars, plus tax." Abigail was struggling to comprehend.  
"Genius." Riley put in.  
"Who were those men?" She asked, suddenly talking loudly again.  
"Just the guys we warned you were going to steal the Declaration"  
Riley took on the 'I told you so' attitude, "And you didn't believe us!"  
Ben continued, "We did the only thing we could do to keep it safe." Abigail wouldn't have it. She slammed her fists on something, shouting something in German, and then demanded to have it in the same tone.  
"You know something?" Ben asked, "You're shouting again."  
"I'm pretty sure she was swearing too." Riley commented.  
"Well," Ben admitted, "We probably deserve that." A little silence followed.  
Then Abigail put her hands up to her face and said, "There is not a map on the back of the Declaration of Independence"  
"And nobody could steal this," he shook the case provokingly, causing it to rattle, "Either! I leveled with you one hundred percent, everything I told you was the truth"  
"I want that document, Mr. Brown!" She said, trying to sound as official as possible under the circumstances.  
"Ok, my name's not Brown. It's Gates. I leveled with you ninety eight percent."  
"Wait a minute; did you just say "Gates"?" She started. "Gates? You're that family with the conspiracy theory about the founding fathers!"  
"It's not a conspiracy theory."  
"Per se." Riley said. Abigail was suddenly relatively calm. Relatively.  
"You know what? I take it back. You're not liars. You're insane." Then she asked about what they were going to do with the Declaration of Independence. He told them they were going to test it to try and find the map. Then she exploded over that.  
"You can't seriously intend to run chemical test on the Declaration of Independence, in the back of a moving van!"  
Riley contributed again. "We have a clean room environment all set up. EDS suits, Particulate air filtration system, the whole shebang."  
Abigail looked from Ben to Riley, "Really?"  
Ben shook his head. "We can't go back there."  
"What?" Riley protested, "Why not?"  
Ben then proceeded to account his tale of his sojourns in the gift shop. When he told them about the part at the check-out stand, Riley exploded. No one noticed but Kassidy moved her head a little bit.  
"A credit-card slip? Dude, we're on the grid. They're gonna have your records from forever. They're gonna have my records from forever!"  
Ben agreed, somewhat impatiently, as if to want to get the lecture over with. "I know, I know. It's only a matter of minutes before the FBI shows up at my front door."  
"What do we do?" Riley asked in a rather urgent tone. "We need those letters." Ben told him.  
Abigail was instantly curious. "What letters?"  
The car drove down the street. "You know, get off the road. Take a right."  
"What letters!" Abigail wanted to know. They drove on down the street.  
Suddenly, Kassidy groaned from behind them and turned over, muttering about a carrot and cod liver oil.  
Abigail looked at her and back at Ben, "Pray tell, Mr. Gates, who is that? Another employee? Drunk out of her mind, like the one in front?"  
"Hey!" Riley interjected. Ok, so he wasn't the best driver, but who actually drove through the pot holes in the street?  
"That's Kassidy Fisher. Kassidy doesn't drink. We have a hunch that the guys who wanted to steal the Declaration did that to her."  
"Why, Gates? Because she might do her civic duty and turn them in?"  
"Exactly."  
Kassidy groaned again, and her coat fell back. She was too thin. Sure, she was nicely slim under normal circumstances, but her appetite filled her up too well to make her that thin. "Riley did you find her like this?"  
"Like what?"  
"Well, Riley, she seems to have been starved for several days."  
Riley wasn't sure, "Maybe she just decided to go on a health program. You know the ones where you don't eat for a week and lose fifty bazillion pounds?" Ben shook his head.  
"Kass was strange in that way. She never really liked diets except for one, and that was hers. She said no caffeine; no alcohol, no tobacco, healthy sleeping hours, exercise and a dose of the basic food pyramid would keep her healthy. And it did. Looks like she was laying off the food pyramid part." They soon arrived at the park. Ben checked Kassidy over to make sure that besides her thinness, she wasn't in danger of dying any time soon. She wasn't. And then he answered Abigail's question. Again, she protested. "You have the original Silence Dogood letters? Did you steal those, too?"  
Ben simply replied, "We have scans of the originals. Quiet please."  
"How did you get scans?"  
"I know the person who has the originals. Now shush!"  
"Why do you need them?" Abigail asked. They heard Kassidy turn over in the back of the van, knocking something over.  
"She really can't shut her mouth, can she?" Ben said exasperatedly. Then he compromised, "I'll tell you what, look. I will let you hold onto this, if you promise to be quiet! Please! Thank you." Then He and Riley went back to brain storming the problem. Riley, however, already had an answer.  
"Ben you know what you have to do." He started.  
"I know what to do," Agreed Ben, "I'm just trying to think of anything else we could do."  
Riley ran his fingers on the side of his car, "Well, not be a, uh, nudge, but you do realize how many people we have after us. We probably have our own satellite by now." Ben was agonizing. Riley continued, and Abigail was concentrating on getting her shoes off. "It took you all of two seconds to decide to steal the Declaration of Independence!"  
"Yeah, but I didn't think I was gonna personally have to tell my dad about it!" Ben replied. Then Abigail ran for it.  
"Hey," Ben's voice rose at an alarming rate, "Not cool, not cool!"  
"LEMME GO!" Abigail protested. Ben wrested away the Declaration and then waved her off.  
"Ok, you're let go now shoo!"  
"I'm not going. Not without the Declaration!"  
"Well, you're not going with the Declaration!"  
"Yes, I am. I'm not letting it out of my sight, so I'm going." Abigail grabbed the strap of the Carrying case and held on tight.  
"Wait. You're not going with us, with the Declaration." He started to turn away. She pulled him back forcefully, strengthened by her determination.  
"Yes I am."  
"No, you're not!"  
"Look, if you had wanted to leave me behind, you shouldn't have told me where you were going." Riley groaned and leaned his head back against the van. Then Kassidy groaned as well. Riley jumped in the back.  
"Hey Kass, you ok?" Her eyes flickered open halfway, but they weren't focused. Then she groaned again, and turned on her side to face the back of the van. As Abigail and Ben came back to the car, Riley commented to them, "Can someone keep an eye on Kassidy? She's coming to, and from all her moving around, she might knock something over again."  
Ben couldn't resist teasing him, "You sound like her boyfriend. What, does Riley have a crush on a certain someone we all know?"  
Riley, being Riley (well, he couldn't exactly be anyone else) immediately denied it, and started the car. Ben moved Kassidy just a little bit and then held her hand in his, to make sure she couldn't really do anything. They drove for about two and a half hours and got there about midnight. Kassidy's medicine had partially worn off, but she was sleeping off the rest of it. The drove up to the house and Riley put on the break. "Looks ok," he announced.  
"Park a couple blocks away." Ben ordered.  
"Well, how long do you think we got?" Riley asked.  
"I'm gonna give them a couple of hours, at least." He said, and then amended his words. "I hope."  
"What do we do about her?" Riley asked, "I've got some duct tape in the back. And what about Kassidy? I don't feel good about leaving her here."  
"No, that won't be necessary; Dr. Chase won't be any trouble. Promise you won't be any trouble?"  
Abigail rolled her eyes. "I promise."  
"See, she's curious. As about Kassidy, um, Riley do you think you could carry her all the way to dad's house?"  
"Um, I think so. In her condition, she'd just have to not wake up, or move suddenly." Riley said. He wasn't looking forward to it. He hated carrying things, even if it was a shopping bag.  
And so, the three (ahem, four) comrades parked the car and then walked to Ben's father's house. Ben rung the doorbell and Riley gently woke Kassidy up. She woke up softly, and Riley let her slowly to the ground, and supported her. Kassidy was too tired and too drugged to think about anything, so she just put her head on Riley shoulder and dozed.  
Then the door opened. Patrick Gates, in all his glory (and bathrobe) stood in the door.  
"Dad." Ben greeted his father. "Where's the party?" His dad asked.  
"Uh, well, uh, I'm in a little trouble." Patrick looked over at Abigail and Kassidy, on either side of Riley. "Are either of them pregnant? And why is your friend Kassidy drunk, Ben? When you wrote me about her, you said that she wasn't that kind of person."  
"Kassidy isn't drunk. She had a stomach ache and she took too much medicine. But, if either of them are pregnant, are you going to leave the woman carrying your grandchild standing out in the cold?" Ben asked, rather innocently.  
Patrick thought about it for a minute, and then let them inside, inviting them to make themselves comfortable. "There's some pizza, still warm I think." Riley had to carry Kassidy quite bodily over to the couch, because her limbs were still relatively unresponsive. Riley let her down gently, and then stood over by Abigail.  
"Dad, I need the Silence Dogood letters. Yes, it's about the treasure."  
Patrick Gates turned angrily to Abigail and Riley. "And he dragged you two into this?"  
"Literally," Abigail informed him, hugging herself self defensibly. Kassidy groaned incomprehensibly and turned onto her side. She felt sick, and didn't want anyone to talk to her until she felt better.  
"I volunteered." Riley supplied.  
"Well, un-volunteer, before you waste your life."  
"Knock it off, Dad." Ben started.  
"Sure, Sure, I know," Patrick started angrily, "I'm the family kook. I've got a house, a job, health insurance. At least I had your mother, for however brief a time. At least I had you." Riley crossed over to the cold pizza, sitting near Kassidy's feet.  
"Who do you have?" Patrick asked, "Him?" He pointed his question toward Riley. Riley half gnawed half choked on a piece of pizza, unsure how to respond.  
"Look," Ben said, "If you just give us the letters, we're gone."  
Patrick crossed the room angrily, "You disappoint me, Ben." Kassidy's awareness was growing, even if she wasn't happy about losing a chance to sleep. She had been aware, however, that there was an argument going on above her. She didn't know the particulars until her hearing and mind cleared just a little bit more. She also heard Riley chewing loudly. With his mouth open. If she ever had a worse pet peeve, she didn't know it. Kassidy kicked him in the side of his ribs. Well, it was more of a nudge. She still didn't have much strength in her limbs. Yet. But even that small exertion was enough to make her exhausted. When her mother was alive, she would comment after Kassidy had taken a Tylenol, or some other pain killer,  
"Even though you feel just fine, your body isn't, so don't overdo it." Needless to say, Kass would nearly always overdo it, usually resulting in a relapse, or something akin to that.  
"I found the Charlotte." Ben said quietly. Kassidy's interest was perked. But, of course she knew the details. Well, some of them at least.  
"The Charlotte? You mean she was a ship?"  
"Yeah, and she was beautiful. It was amazing Dad."  
"And the treasure?" Ooh, sticky business.  
"Uh, no," Bad move, bad move. "But we found another clue that led us here..."  
"Yeah, and that'll lead you to another clue. And that's all you'll ever find is another clue. Don't you get it, Ben? I finally figured it out. The legend says that the treasure was buried to keep it from the British." Patrick's voice was getting louder and louder, but then softened as he continued to talk, "But what really happened was the legend was invented, to keep the British occupied searching for buried treasure. The treasure is a myth."  
Ben scoffed softly and then said, "I refuse to believe that."  
Patrick made a move to perhaps dissuade Ben, but then he stopped. "Well, you can believe what you want, you're a grown person. What am I doing? Do what you want, Ben. Do what you want."  
"He's probably right." Abigail put in, "You don't even know if there is another clue"  
Ben had a hard expression on. "Well, I can think of a way where we could find out. And we can find out right now." The three people immediately started preparing for the tests. Kassidy had giving in and was zonked out on the couch, sleeping off the ill effects of the drug. Finally Ben pulled out the Declaration of Independence. Abigail watched warily as he spread it out gently on the living room table, biting her lip anxiously. She glanced over to Kassidy for a moment, eyeing her up and down, and then turned to the two men again. Ben was busy slipping on a pair of plastic gloves, and then he turned to her and held out a pair.You want to help?" He asked. She gave him a scowl and strode over to him, grabbing the gloves and pulling them on.  
"Looks like animal skin." Patrick said, glancing in from the kitchen and he stood in the doorway. Ben glanced up at him but quickly looked back down, nodding, Patrick asked, "How old is it?"  
"About, two hundred years."  
"Really? You sure?"  
"Pretty darn." The older man nodded once, looking at the curiously, and continued to watch the group huddle over the parchment. Abigail glared at Ben who merely returned his attention to the Declaration, "Now, if this thing's in invisible ink, how do we look at it?" Patrick's eyes lit up.  
"Throw it in the oven!" He replied, chuckling softly.  
"NO!" Abigail and Ben both exclaimed.  
The older man shrugged. "You need heat." He said, carrying his cold pizza and drink back to the kitchen. Kassidy snorted softly in her sleep and mumbled.  
Riley crossed the room, thinking that it would be something important. "What?"  
Kassidy looked up at Riley, "No more toothpaste, mom. It's making me sick. Oh, mom! I didn't know you cut your hair?"  
Riley put on his best motherly voice. Kassidy was going to hate him for it later, but he just couldn't resist, "I had it done this morning. Oh, and Kassidy, there will be no more toothpaste."  
Kassidy smiled sweetly and tiredly then said, "I'm going to kill you, Riley. Just as soon as I'm done sleeping…" She dropped her head back into her arms and drifted off back to sleep.

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Admittably, an odd place to leave off, but please forgive me anyway. Well, I hope you enjoyed this, and please review!

Bejo


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